One's cutting back! Queen even has buckets under her leaky roof as maintenance grant is cut by £3.3m

The Queen has embraced the economic downturn with dramatic cuts to her spending, forcing her to take the axe to staff costs and royal travel, it was revealed last night.

And with maintenance bills also hit, staff at Buckingham Palace have even been spotted using buckets to catch the rainwater from leaks.

A package of austerity measures has seen the cost of the monarchy to taxpayers drop by 7 per cent to £38.2million in 2009-10 - the equivalent of 62p per subject.

Thrifty: The Queen, pictured with the Duke of Edinburgh in Canada, has cut back on Royal spending

The single biggest fall in spending was on planes, trains and
helicopters - cut by 40 per cent to £3.9million. Prince Charles and
Prince Andrew still managed to run up more than £1.2million on private
jets and other flights, however.

The Queen receives £7.9million a year from the Civil List,
which pays for the running of the Royal Household, including staff
salaries. The figure has been unchanged for 20 years, forcing the
monarch to dip into her savings. Last year alone, this amounted to
£6.5million.

Aides admit they have enough spare cash to last only another
12 months - meaning the Queen could effectively be bankrupt by the time
of her Diamond Jubilee in 2012. Officials insist this would never be
allowed to happen.

Aides say the Queen is acutely conscious of the current
economic climate and wants to 'lead by example' in tightening her belt.
But they also warn that some savings may not prove cost effective in
the long term.

Currently there is a £40million 'black hole' in the budget for essential royal maintenance and, with a £500,000 cut in funding next year, dozens of essential projects are being put off.

Rainwater has been seen dripping through ceilings in the
Ballroom and Queen's Gallery, home to Old Masters worth millions of
pounds.

Last night Sir Alan Reid, Keeper of the Privy Purse and the
Queen's chief 'bean counter', promised that the cost-cutting measures
would continue indefinitely and could include a recruitment freeze.

He said: 'The Royal Household is acutely aware of the
difficult economic climate and took early action to reduce its Civil
List expenditure. It is acknowledged that the necessary cuts in public expenditure will have an impact on the backlog of essential maintenance.'

Economical: The Queen is 'acutely aware' of the difficult economic climate, the Keeper of the Privy Purse said yesterday

Sir Alan, who took a salary reduction of £14,000 last year to
£180,000, added: 'In the meantime, the Household is continuing to
pursue opportunities to reduce costs and generate income from the
Estate's assets, including commercial lettings and management charges.'

The figures were revealed in the Royal Household's annual report.

On top of the Civil List, The Queen received Government grants
for a further £15.4million towards the upkeep of her residences,
£400,000 for communications as well as the £3.9million for travel. The
figures do not include the cost of providing security for royals,
thought to be more than £ 100million a year.

Last month, the Government announced a root-and-branch review
of the way royal finances are organised - a decision welcomed by senior
palace officials.

One aide told the Mail: 'We know there is a serious economic
squeeze and we have to be prepared to suffer as much as anybody. There
are some really big challenges ahead.'

Big Red Mike owner Dom Romeo breaches protocol by touching the Queen on the back as he accepts the winner's trophy after the 151st running of the Queen's Plate in Toronto

Budgets already slashed include furnishings and equipment,
which fell from £400,000 to £300,000 and uniforms and protective
clothing, which was halved to £100,000.

The Queen has also clawed back money in other areas, such as
extending to other bedding plants her scheme to sell off her Christmas
poinsettias to garden centres - which makes her £24,000 a year.

But Graham Smith, of pressure group Republic, said last night:
'With European elected head of states costing a fraction of this
official figure, it's clear the monarchy continues to waste many
millions of pounds of taxpayers' money when frontline services are
threatened.'